legal protection. in most states, a legal plan attorney is available with every personalized document to answer any questions. get started at legalzoom.com today. and now you're protected. this morning, mhp's post-election agenda is to keep our eye on poverty. plus, the needs of our veterans on the day that we pay tribute to them. and women are on the way. washington will never be the same. but first, the president's lease on the white house has just been extended. just what is the mandate? good morning. i'm melissa harris-perry. all week the democratic and republican political operatives and strategists have been sifting through exit polling data trying to piece together the how and why of president

obama's reelection. poring over data of turnout and the racial and socioeconomic composition of the winning coalition and breakdowns of what issues drove the electorate to the polls, all the pundits and prognosticators were looking for the formula that added up to a win for the president. now, clearly nate silver has decoded the calculus of probability. but now the question shifted from who will win to what are the voters trying to tell us? and not even nate did definitively answer that. here's what we do know. voters turned out for president barack obama in droves. despite having a somewhat smaller electoral map than in 2008, this is one of the biggest democratic wins since fdr. with florida now colored blue, the president had secured a wide electoral surplus and a sizable popular vote margin. now, the popular vote win was made possible by people who lined up in huge numbers to vote in states like louisiana or new york or south carolina, which weren't in play in terms of

their electoral votes. they weren't going to be needed. but who were nonetheless determined to cast their ballots for the president. as a result, this president's win was bigger than jfk's in 1960, bigger than richard nixon in 1968, bigger than jimmy carter's in 1976 and bigger than george w. bush's in 2000. no denying it. it was a big win. and as i said before, size does matter. at least when it comes to laying claim to a mandate. so the president may have earned political capital, but what is he going to say about the argument for why he's earned it. why did the electorate overwhelmingly vote to put this president back in the white house? does tuesday's win tell us a story sufficient to explain what america wants? now, listening to the president on tuesday night, i noticed a subtle but important shift in how he is thinking about the second term. in both 2008 and this past tuesday, president obama told a story during his speech.

in 2008, the narrative of the then president-elect obama gave was about his win was a culmination of struggle. he told the narrative of 106-year-old ann nixon cooper who cast her ballot in atlanta that evening. >> she was born just a general ration past slavery, a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky. when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons. because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin. and tonight i think about all that she's seen throughout her century in america. the heartache and the hope. the struggle and the progress. the times we with told that we can't and the people who pressed on with that american creed, yes, we can. >> so in 2008, the president saw his own election as fulfilling a legacy of struggle. but the story he told in 2012 was not a story of culmination,

it was a story of initialation. not what was but what is and will be. >> i saw just the other day in ohio where a father told the story of his 8-year-old daughter whose long battle with leukemia nearly cost their family everything. had it not been for health care reform passing just a few months before the insurance company was about to stop paying for her care. >> you see the difference. in 2008, the president drew our attention to ann cooper and the generations that she represented. in 2012, he wants us to think of an 8-year-old girl and the future she embodies. the second time is about move, dare i say it, moving forward. indiana university political science professor marjorie hershey says this week that politicians can never claim a

mandate because they never really know why voters supported them. but president obama's reelection cannot tell us about each individual policy that the president proposes, but it does suggest that americans, a lot of americans, abroad, multiracial, coalition of americans have bought into the president's vision for the role of government. that despite the battering it took during the campaign, the role of the federal government came out on the other side of tuesday not as a philosophical punching bag, but, in fact, with a freshman date. the american electorate voted yes for a government that shares with its citizens certain obligations and responsibilities. they voted yes for the social contract. that is the capitol that president obama seeks to spend in coming month. richard kim is here, maya wily, civil rights attorney and founder of the center for social inclusion. jonathan cohen and political

satyrist liz win stead, co-creator of the daily show. do you think i have that right? do you think the nation said i want an active government? >> i'm a little more pessimistic than that. what the nation said that they objected the romney/ryan agenda. they rejected the idea that society made of takers and givers and the job creators are the people that have to be exalted. i think they voted for preserving the social safety net. i don't know approximate they voted for growing that, because obama didn't run on that largely. >> he did run, jonathan, on the notion of the end of bush era tax cuts at the very top. it feels like, if there is a mandate, that mandate has everything to do with the perception of the opposition, right? if the opposition cowers there's a mandate, if not, there's not a mandate. i want to listen to the

president himself that he believes the mandate about taxes. let's listen to that. >> i refuse to accept any approach that isn't balanced. i'm not going to ask students and seniors and middle class families to pay down the entire deficit while people like me making over $250,000 aren't asked to pay a dime more in taxes. [ applause ] >> i'm not going to do that. this was a central question during the election. it was debated over and over again. on tuesday night, we found out that the ma jord of americans agree with my approach. >> this is what he says his mandate is. >> i think he has a pretty good case. a mandate, when we talk about a mandate, is a specific set of instructions. of course not. >> right. >> the president is absolutely right. this was a central issue in the election. used it at a stump speech. most americans believe it is appropriate to ask the wealthy to pay more as we go forward.

because we need revenue, we need to support these programs. as richard said, the public clearly wants, wants medicare, wants medicaid. we have to find the money for it. where will we find the money? we should ask the wealthy to pay a little more like they did during the clinton era. that, i think, is a very clear message from this election. >> i often felt, maya, if it was a mandate at all, it was to fix voting. one wft things we heard is early on, there was enthusiasm gap and the part of what closed that enthusiasm gap were the voter suppression efforts themselves. people saying wait a minute, like or dislike the president, you are not going to take away my ability and right to vote. do you think that there is room here for the president to swiftly move forward on changing the way that we vote in this country? >> it's a really important question, melissa. i can't agree with you more. i think this election when we look at it was highly polarized. it shows the nation itself is highly polarized. it's polarized across race.

that's an unfortunate thing. one of the conversations that we're having in this country right now is whether or not we should actually be the representative country that we are. so if a lot of the voting laws that we're talking about that were introduced in 33 states across the country were going to make it much, much more difficult for the populations that came out strong for president obama in this election are going to have an easier time voting or harder time voting as they become the largest segment of the country. so i think part of the problem here for president obama and the democratic party generally is that they don't have a lot of control. these are state-level laws. these are not federal. where he has control through the department of justice which has the power to enforce the voting rights act which as we know, was one of the key strategies to allowing people to vote in some of the key states. >> the supreme court is going to hear section 5. >> we heard on friday that the supreme court is going to hear it. we know from chief justice roberts that he questions the constitutionality of section 5

which he said in the case in 2009. the only way that the white house has any power over this kind of really taking away rights that we have fought so hard for in this country is through his supreme court nominations and presumably he will have a few. >> which is not a small thing. it's a huge part of the presidential legacy. if you could suggest to the president a shopping list of where to spend his big win first, where would you have him spend it? >> that's a really interesting question. i think where i would have him spend it is where i think people reacted the most, which is the cruelty of with which the republicans ran. i think that people looked at every single thing. i have friends who don't have insurance, who are sick. i have friends who are dying in their apartments. i have elderly parents that my siblings and i get together and fork out every month to supplement. and then the big storm comes and

you saw americans who needed help from their government in a way that it was -- it was very telling at this time. i think so your mandate is, correct the record on the cruelty. and reset on who we are as a nation and what that means. what our government heens. >> as we go to break, given you said that this notion about cruelty, i want to listen to the president as we leave and go to break and we'll talk about it specifically addressing the fiscal cliff which is the first thing spent with this machine date. he said something similar. don't be cynical. we're going to do away with cruelty. we'll listen to the president. >> i believe we can seize this future togtd because we're not as divided as our politics suggests. we're not as cynical as the pundits believe. we are greater than the sum of our individual ambitions, and we remain more than a collection of

red states and blue states. we are and forever will be the united states of america. and together, with your help and god's grace, we will continue our journey forward. humans -- even when we cross our t's and dot our i's, we still run into problems. namely, other humans. which is why, at liberty mutual insurance, auto policies come with new car replacement and accident forgiveness if you qualify. see what else comes standard at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy?

we're still waiting for the post reelection press conference from president obama. but each of his recent predecessors held one within days of their victories. now, how he frames the path forward helps us to see how the commander in chief is feeling about his foray into the second term. if the last three presidents are any indication, this is what it looks like. >> well, i feel that the people of this country made it very plain that they approved what we've been doing and we're going to continue what we've been doing and if need be, we will

take our case to the people. >> sometimes the president thinks he has more of a mandate and tries to do too much in cooperation. we want to make it clear that we understand the american people want us to work together with the republicans and that we have to build a vital center. and number two, to have a driving agenda for the second term that grows out of what we've done for the last four years. >> i earned capital in the campaign, political capital. now i intend to spend it. it is my style. >> well, president obama may be putting together his second term do list right now with the plan on how to spend his political capital. there's one task he has to take care of, that is negotiating the fiscal cliff. i know. we're all sick of hearing about the fiscal cliff. the fact is, without a bipartisan deal on the budget, literally nothing else gets accomplished by the federal government. i want to ask you about this. we were saying the language of fiscal cliff is irritating and

not particularly evocative of what will happen actually. we'll have to deal with the sequestration question. how much will the reelection factor into how the choices are made on the backside? >> i think this will be a really important test in the next few months, weeks. is the president really a deficit hawk? this is something that liberals have been up in the air about. if he is a deficit hawk and believes this and not because of political reasons but because he thinks it's a problem. he will sit down and try to get the best deal that he can. if he thinks it's a manufactured crisis in part, he'll do with what was suggested in "the new york times" and let the sques ration happen and let the cliff come and i hate to say this, go back on the campaign trail and do the barnstorming of the country and explain that the deficit is not as much a problem as we think it is. explain the financial health of our country to the american people and create his mandate

out of that process. >> you know, on the one hand he's a great communicator, but on this issue of explaining policy on the affordable care act, the administration didn't show itself as being particularly adept at that. i worry just a little bit about the thelma and louise, go off the cliff. it's not a cliff. it slides down slowly. it buys you time. >> it also -- there's a certain political emotion agreement i have with let the chop happen. it's a chop. it's not a cliff. it's a chopping block. but the problem is that we're talking about 3 million americans not getting the food they need to eat by the end of the month. not getting home heating help at the time when we're hitting the winter months and for all indications are we're going to have a hard winter. we're talking about whether homeless assistance grants are going to help shelter people who are homeless and we're talking about whether we're going to allow the poorer school districts and children's with disabilities and learning

disabilities and physical disabilities are going to have the important funding that supports their educational opportunity chopped. so it's a very hard -- it's a very hard political position, i think, that the president is in because on the one hand, i think it's right to say it's not a making of the democratic party. it's not even a making of the entire republican party. it's about how both parties got held hostage by tea party caucus within. this is a minority actually holding hostage a majority. >> a majority of the two party. >> i would even say keep these conversations loud and public and also show john boehner, if john boehner is going to be blaming everybody else but john boehner for being owe not being able to poll this red ants that infested his regions what can't get done, let's just see what that's about. because this is a democracy. this isn't the president's

mandate. it's everybody's mandate. >> i want to set two things next to each other. on the one hand, we had a letter in the washington post to the president and to the congress from sort of the group that had supported the president, big labor and others and they made it very clear. the 2012 elections are over. the american people have spoken. we've voted for the middle class, putting people back to work and not job killing budget cuts and not attacking social security and medicare and medicate. this is what they're saying. on the other hand, we have boehner who won a majority in the house of representatives. here's what he said thursday to diane sawyer about raising taxes. >> is it on the table to talk about it? >> i made clear -- >> the wealthier americans pitch in here. >> raising tax rates is unacceptable. frankdly, it couldn't even pass the house. putting increased revenues on the table but through reforming our tax code. and i would do that if the president were serious about solving our spending problem and

trying to secure our entitlement programs. i'm the most reasonable, responsible person here in washington. the president knows this. he knows that he and i can work together. >> jonathan, the politics of that? >> the remarkable thing about that statement. a lot of people noticed, it reminded them of the statement in the godfather. my offer is nothing. you went back in a time machine to the big fight over the debt ceiling. this was basically boehner's posture then. he's acting, at least for the moment, like nothing has changed since then. but a lot has changed. that was president obama's weakest moment. unemployment was much higher. he hadn't just been re-elected. the dynamics of the policy situation were such that were doing nothing hurt the president more than it hurt the republicans. most people think it's the reverse now. in fairness to boehner, he's got the same problem he had before. he has a caucus. i suspect if you put boehner and the president in a room

together, they could probably find out some deal. but the problem for boehner, he has this conservative caucus. the interesting question is how long will it take, what will it take for him to sell his republicans, his republican kau caucus on a deal. >> does he have the big enough stick, can he pull them into line, which is really the question here. do they see there being a significant cost for them. they're two years out from an election, right? two whole years. a lot happens in that time. do they see enough of a cost for bucking the president here. >> up next, the other thing i love about second terms is everything that changes had terms of personnel right? you get to line up a new cabinet. we're going to talk about the palace intrigue, ho is going and who is staying when we come back. try running four.ning a restaurant is hard, fortunately we've got ink.

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passed and we're hoping that president obama hosas gotten a good night's sleep and time to hang out with the girls and tussle with beau. he'll need the r and r before he tackles the agenda. first thing i do, i try to clean out the work space and from what we hear, the west wing is going to get a deep cleaning. some of the top brass will be taking their leave to make way tore fresh legs to take them through the second half. among the starters, treasury secretary, timothy geithner, secretary of state hillary clinton. leon panetta. energy secretary, steven chu, ken salazar and epa administrator lisa jackson. that's just the first string. let's see who my panel thinks is going to change up. i think obviously petraeus is not hanging out for the second term. >> no. >> the interesting one is secretary of state. who goes in, in place of hillary clinton? >> i have no idea. >> i know the language has been

susan rice as one possibility. susan rice, obviously, we've got the benghazi problem associated with her, whether or not that's over. then the other one, of course, is john kerry of massachusetts. the problem is if you pull kerry down from massachusetts, there is a guy walking around massachusetts right now who would like a senate seat, right? you could totally end up with a situation of him running again? any sense of how the president might negotiate that decision? >> no sense at all. you know, kerry has been widely known to covet this job for a long time. speaking for myself, i always thought he would make a fine secretary of state. in the old-fashioned sense of who would do a good job, this is someone i think who showed us when he was a presidential candidate in the senate, he would be a wonderful secretary of state. but you create this political problem. we've seen how one vote in the senate can make such a difference. it's hard to know how to solve it. >> the speech to the dnc felt like an audition. it looks like holder will

probably leave the attorney general position, although i have great imaginings of him running like a voter suppression, voter rights thing. >> looking for a new -- >> i would totally -- duvall patrick, the current governor the massachusetts is a name that's up as a possibility for the a.g. any sense of whether you see the president pulling in did he val patri patrick. >> he's been in the department of krus tijustice, he's a long lawyer. he has the political experience and the legal experience. he was a long time practicing attorney. he's very well-connected to a lot of the civil rights, civil liberties groups that will be important to work with on things like voter suppression. it would be a smart move. he's somebody with a relationship with the president. i would want someone in a seat

like that who understands the institution itself and has the political relationships to be effective at the job. >> i would also say he runs against scott brown for kerry's seat and then massachusetts can get itself another governor and we have that in play also. so there is deval patrick running against scott brown. >> it all comes to massachusetts once again. >> the two posts are who replaces lisa jackson and steven chu at energy. the president, i don't think the climate change bill is in the works. but the epa has big powers over coal and emission. it will be important. i don't know who is on the short list. >> definitely. not so much jackson, but chu you're excited to see leave because it became such a part of the discourse. >> geithner is critically important here. i assume he's going to stay

through the fiscal cliff in order to just see that through. but again, that's going to be a really big appointment in terms of thinking about how is this president thinking about monetary policy going forward. any sense on that? >> they've said or hinted strongly that geithner will stay on through the fiscal cliff. god, i hate that term. through the negotiations over the tax cuts and the spending sequester. the name you hear a lot for taking his place is is jack lou who is currently the chief of staff. what's interesting about jack lew, people have different feelings about him. a lot of the democrats trust him. he's got a lot of experience. they liked dealing with him when he ran the budget office. geithner seems to have brought his own believes for better or worse. he brought his own spin on things. lew is seen as someone he'll do what the president likes. whether you like that or not is whether or not you -- >> he's well-trusted by the president. that's important in the second term. when we come back, we're

going to transition to a new segment that will be critical for us on mhp. we think it's one of the most important things we can talk about. we're going below the line next. and we got onesies. sometimes miracles get messy. so we use tide free. no perfumes or dyes for her delicate skin. brad. not it. not it. just kidding. that's our tide. what's yours?

we've just finished talking about president obama's new agenda and the mandate given to him by the american electorate. before his reelection, nerdland focused on one particular thing that was vital to the democratic process. voting. remember this week in voter suppression? well, at least for now this week in voter suppression is done. we'll go back to it if we need to. but remember, we were looking at efforts to block voters from the polls. now that the election has been decided, here's what we're going do and put on the nerdland agenda. poverty. in this new series, we'll bring

you regular stories of people living below the line. the policies and decisions that create the poverty in which they live, what they are doing to survive in tough circumstances and what we can do as a nation to affect poverty. we recognize it's a tough topic and many in politics prefer not to talk about it at all. that's exactly why we want to talk about it. although the official poverty rate didn't increase last year, it was still at 15%. translating to 46.2 million people. when you break it down by age, 21.9% are under the age of 18. 13.7% are between 18 and 64 and 8.7% are over the age of 65. let me crystal clear. those aren't numbers. those are people. we're going to focus our lens on what the obama administration is doing to help the poor. especially since they sent the following to my colleague at the nation. writing "even as the president introduced policies leading to

strong economic growth, he's launched bold new initiatives to combat poverty directly. for example, the administration developed the choice neighborhoods program to address housing, crime and transportation in order to bring comprehensive neighborhood revitalization to blighted areas." that initiative and others are great starts but there must be a more comprehensive approach if those living below the line are going to have a chance of escaping from the choke-hold of poverty. back at the table are richard kim and maya wily and joining us -- public health columbia university and james perry. executive director of the greater new orleans action center and as i like to call him, husband. >> i want to start with you. the nation has been on as we were doing this week in voter suppression. >> greg has been extraordinary. >> this week in poverty. sort of why was that the thing that you all were focusing on? >> it seemed to have completely vanished from the national agenda. john edwards was the last

politician who really said we could eliminate poverty in this country and i have a plan to do that, to eliminate poverty. i think there's a lot going on, job creation, a lot pitched toward the middle class. i understand the political reasons for that. morally, it's inexcusable. we have the leaf level of profrt, vast, tremendous, splendid wealth. it was important for us to do that. >> it's interesting when greg was writing this and he asked for both campaigns to weigh in on poverty, the only campaign that bothered to respond was the obama campaign. what i like about that is it gives us a space to say okay, the campaign responded. therefore, we have a space where we can talk to the administration about this. james, i know obviously from living with you that in civil rights work, when you are interviewing new staff persons, one of the first questions you ask them is why are people poor? why in the civil rights organization do you ask people a poverty question?

>> you know, i think it's the most important question you can ask any policy maker elected official. you got to know where they stand on this issue. it starts from the fundamental problem that people don't realize that poverty is as american as apple pie. it's fundamental to who america is. this notion that individuals essentially decide to be poor, they decide to -- they make bad decisions and they use bad judgment and then they decide to live in the same community and neighborhoods together is crazy. it's actually systems that cause poverty. if you're in an organization like mine and working to change the systems, then you have to understand fundamentally that the systems are designed to create poverty. it's part of who we are. >> it's interesting you make this point about kind of the structures or the systems. mindy, i want to come to you. i teach your book, root shock, in my course on disaster and american politics. and you know, the fact that the president responded to the poverty question by saying that the administration developed

choice neighborhood programs to address housing, crime and transportation, right, so that's the poverty question and the response was about neighborhood. i thought all right, i need to talk to mindy here because it was indication of a recognition that it is the structures. so when you think about neighborhoods sort of the place where poverty is, what's the story that you can tell us about how place impacts poverty? >> it's an important story. i think it's actually the one piece of the poverty conversation that's been left out. that is, that for 60 years we've had policies of destroying neighborhoods and moving the poor, especially people of color. so we had urban renewal, gentrification and foreclosure. these are all policies that have destroyed neighborhoods and moved the poor. every time you destroy a neighborhood, you destroy resources and networks and weaken them. when you go into the neighborhoods and ask people what was it like 50 years ago, the elders say we were together in a strong tight knit and all

the adults raised all of the children. when you go into the neighborhoods now, people talk about the fear, the fact that they can't discipline a child they see miss pbehaving on the streets. it's a completely different setting. it's this instability, ripping apart of neighborhoods that has changed the character of poverty. poverty is now people not only being poor in money but poor in social support. it's a double whammy of incredible power and of course, the storm is going to aggravate that for all the poor communities from montauk to cape may. >> that kind of sense of isolation. it's one thing to be poor in a sense of resource deprivation, but if you add the resource deprivation with that social isolation and fear and crime, then again, as a clinical psychologis psychologis psychologist, it has pre percussive effects. >> this is such an important conversation for all the reasons james and mindy have said. one of the complexities here

when you look at the record of the obama administration is on one hand, some of what the administration does, has done is really, really important. like trying to get three federal agencies to actually work together in a concerted fashion to focus on place and invest in a way that builds real opportunity. that was department of transportation epa, and hud, right? sustainable communities initiative. promised neighborhoods. these are efforts to invest in place. i think part of the problem is the disconnect in thinking about larger programs and their impact on place. for instance, when we saw stimulus, and i think stimulus was an incredibly important thing that the administration did. it made an assumption that stimulus dollars would impact all communities equally if they were in need. that was a mistake. because there were so many communities, particularly communities of color, that were low income that didn't have shovel ready projects because they had never been invested in to create those project.

>> right. quite the opposite. as mind incompetent points out -- everybody is going to stay on the topic and at the table. we'll talk about the complexities of how sandy helped to expose these vulnerabilities when we come back. i have a cold, and i took nyquil, but i'm still stubbed up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't unstuff your nose. what? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus liquid gels speeds relief to your worst cold symptoms plus has a decongestant for your stuffy nose. thanks. that's the cold truth! [ male announcer ] the way it moves. the way it cleans. everything about the oral-b power brush is simply revolutionary. oral-b power brushes oscillate, rotate and even pulsate to gently loosen and break up that sticky plaque with more brush movements than manual brushes and even up to 50% more than leading sonic technology brushes for a superior clean. oral-b power brushes. go to oralb.com for the latest offers.

we're back and talking about the mhp major a agenda item. i wanted to ask you, james about speaking about the poor versus speaking to and with poor people. one of the things irritating me about the romney campaign is the sense how they characterized who poor people are. how do we do the work of making sure we get the ideas and voices from ordinary people? >> it's so hard. neither group is qualified to work on behalf of poor people. the people who are poor and people who are not poor.

if you are poor, it probably means you've been affected by the same systems you seek to change. you may be seeking to change the education system but that may have failed you. of course, if you're mitt romney, 47% of people are victims who feel they're entitled. it's a difficult question. the truth is probably none of us are truly entitled to work on behalf of the poor. i think do you have to see yourself in this process and see where you are and be honest about that and then you have to get out there and work, period. first, acknowledge that these are systems and work against those systems regardless of who you are and what your role is. >> do you think integrating communities help in this way. mindy, you were talking about sort of the idea that poor people have to move to kind of better places and these poor communities have to have new people move into them. i know one of the things that -- the work that you do, james and that you've done mindy is around saying communities themselves deserve to be able to stay intact and yet have the structural resources available to them. does that happen through racial

and economic integration? how does that happen? >> well, we've had 60 years of undermining how that happens. >> yes. >> part of it is stopping a long series of policies that destroy that. but people unslum naturally. it happens everywhere. what we have to do is support efforts at unslumming. so, for example, somebody will say, let's start a community garden. and operation green thumb or something like that comes along and helps a community garden. you know the real estate values have gone up in the neighborhood, violence down, people are more comfortable and they have vegetables to eat just because there was a community garden. there are thousands of efforts like that. our job is to nourish them and stop promoting what historians called sorting out. people will move around, all neighborhoods can be fabulous. and we'll have a great nation. >> i think it's interesting.

i understand why we have a community-based approach and why we're looking at this as a problem of place and there's a reason for that. it's also interesting what's not on the table. direct cash payments to the poor. you saw in that graphic that you flashed, the relative number of old people, elderly people who are not in poverty compared to other populations because of social security. >> we write them checks. >> brazil has been successful in shrinking inequality, have done direct cash payments. i would o love the obama administration to come out that. i don't think that's going to happen. we should put that on the table as an agenda item. >> sure. i was going to say in housing, that's something that was tried but it hasn't worked just yet. for instance, the section 8 voucher program, the idea is that people can move wherever they want. but no one has taken a step to say it's illegal to discriminate against someone who uses a voucher. it makes some of the programs we have now that can work and make people able to move to wherever

they want to live. >> when we come back, we're going to talk about that and i'm going to bring you in and bring lizz win stead back to the table. i want to talk about sandy. as storm survivors, sometimes disasters can help to expose how vulnerable and how much inequality there really is. welcome aboard!

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when it comes to talking about poverty, we often don't. the reality is it takes a disaster like hurricane sandy to help reveal it, let alone to get people to discuss economic inequality in the real and tangible ways that it impacts people. with 15% of our fellow americans still living in poverty, we got a lot more work to do. lizz, i know as a new yorker, you have been out there, the sandy rhetoric has been about

the wealthy folks and the shoreline who lost second homes. if you look at the red hook projects and other aspects, this has been a disparate disaster in that way. >> the people are so incredibly amazing. i encourage can everyone to go. what you remember, i was brought up in a lower middle class family. when you see people surrounded by their belongings and what their belongings mean and especially for people who come from low-income families, they're losing stuff, decades of memories. things that they had passed down. photographs that are destroyed. it's not that they're pining for their tvs, it's the irreplaceable lives that have been destroyed so quickly. when you're in there as a person helping, you see that they need you, you see that you're in an emotional place that you maybe

shouldn't be and you're helping somebody decide to toss out these incredible things. when you see that, you realize that there is such a place for government, there's a place for you in someone else's life and it's rewarding and it's amazing. i just can't say enough that you're going to give your money, give your money, but give of yourself and your time. there's nothing more valuable than a person who is suffering, knowing that someone who doesn't know them at all, a member of their community, cares. >> i love this impulse. i feel like disasters bring out this impulse, this charitable impulse in us. but i also wonder, how do we take the charitable impulse and move it into an impulse that's an impulse for structural justice reform. >> sure. the charitable impulse is important. after hurricane katrina someone took charity on me and married me. but there is this next step that

has to happen. picture that there is almost a cartoon-like bad guy watching what happened. wringing his hands thinking how can i make changes in the education system, housing system. all these systems in a way that can enrich communities. advocates have to be on guard and ready. the problem is that the advocates who have to be ready are oftentimes the folks who suffer the most at the hands of this disaster. i met a guy, a pastor yesterday in atlantic city who is suffering from this disaster and he's holding his son and homeless. but he's teaching other folks what do during this disaster. oftentimes, advocates aren't even ready to take on the big picture, the thing that's coming next. >> the red hook is a really good example for the need for government and investment in communities. red hook, there's amazing stories of community support, of the intern who came down and set up a clinic in red hook. because you had people who

weren't getting their insulin, who were in serious danger, physical danger as a result. there's still 20 buildings in red hook without electricity and heat. this is how many days after, how many weeks? my brother spent the past week and a half in red hook barely sleeping. let me say about one of the things that happened in red hook. public housing, we're not investing in it. >> as soon as we see sandy, we see how that lack of investment in public housing has this enormous impact. thank you too mindy and my dear husband james. the rest are going to be back for more. in our next hour, let's face it, women crushed it tuesday night. did you hear about what happened in new hampshire? also, we're awaiting president obama in arlington national cemetery for the annual veterans' day ceremony. we'll go there live as soon as we get back. some coordinating. and a trip to the one place with the new ideas

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welcome back. you are looking at a live shot of the arlington national cemetery in arlington, virginia. in just a moment we'll take you there live when president obama will commence the annual veterans' day national ceremony by laying a wreath at the tomb of the unknowns. we'll bring you the president's remark from arlington in commemoration of veterans' day. veterans' day is obviously takes special meaning when we're a country still at war. it's not just a matter of remembering. it's a matter of a recognition of where we are in terms of policy right now. we've been talking a lot about poverty. veterans actually experience a great deal of poverty. >> huge amount of poverty. there's a green door initiative in texas for instance that tries to house people who are homeless. >> i'm sorry. we're going right now live to the events in arlington, virginia. >> present arms.

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we'll have the president's remarks from arlington live later in the hour.

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women have had the right to vote for less than a hundred years. but we're now the majority of the electorate. in this election, women accounted for 53% of all those who cast ballots. and 55% of women chose president obama. giving him an 11-point advantage over mitt romney. much has been made of the multiracial nature of the president's winning coalition but it's important to remember that women of all races were essential to the president's victory. women did more than choose a president. women themselves ran for office. a record 184 women made bids for congress this year. on tuesday, nearly half of them were elected.

according to stats compiled by the center for american women in politics, rutgers university, the congress will have more women than any time in american history. one in three newly elected members of congress is a woman. add to that, wisconsin, north dakota, massachusetts and hawaii all elected women to the u.s. senate for the first time in their history, including the first asian american woman in the history of the senate. it wasn't just advocacy organizations like emily's list helping to make this happen. there were a few particular men who were a big help, too. men like congressman todd akin, the republican candidate for senate. who voiced his belief about our magical female bodies not being able to get pregnant from rape. you know when it's legitimate. he lost by 16 points. men like richard mourdock

believed allowed that it's god's will. he was defeated by his opponent on tuesday. and men like congressman joe walsh of illinois who stated that modern science and technology that abortion exceptions for the health of the mother were now unnecessary. congressman walsh took a big fat l on tuesday by ten points to his challenger, tammy duckworth. jessica val ent i wrote that it may be women that don't like talking about how personally these issues affect their lives were not afraid to be loud in the voting booth. joining me again are richard kim, maya wily, civil rights attorney and founder for the center for social inclusion. jonathon cohn and political satiris

satirists, lizz win stead, co-creator of the daily show. i feel like this is yours, lizz. >> it's utterly fascinating that this is the way it is. the rape thing driving it. women who are sexual beings, who are happy and it's no one's business and they're liking it saw this ugly path and said, as jessica said, we're going into the voting booth and we're voting the way -- because we want to have free and like amazing life. it's insane that we -- these people -- i don't know how todd akin and richard -- i dot -- these are not -- elected six times. where are people reporting? this is not a -- you don't one time think that women are universal remotes that can turn things off. >> you get the sense obviously they didn't want women to have choice because when we chose,

not them. >> there's one wrinkle in the story which is deb fisher from nebraska who actually has the same positions on abortion as akin and she was elected to be senator and she's one of the five women who are going to be freshman senators from this cycle. i think the difference here is she was smart enough not to say stupid stuff. but it doesn't make her positions different. i think the one thing we should take some caution at is that ee don't have an electorate yet that is paying sufficient attention underneath the rhetoric. >> but what i would say to that is, hello media. the way that we are an informed electorate is by, when people are putting candidates up, that there's a little bit of vetting. i can only be as responsible of a citizen as i know about the person. and so i hope that as we have seen this wide swath of people making all kinds of decisions about what women can't do and what rape is and is not and what gifts these people are given and don't pull my name for

christmas. i want a bed, bath and beyond card. i don't want gifts. that is a message to everybody. please, please look deeper into all the people running and get elected. >> there's a structural issue here. women won in open seat races. it's one. things that we know now that women as candidates are as likely to win as men given sort of all things equal. but they got to have -- not when they're running against incumbent, right? >> right. you saw fantastic slate of women senators, particularly i'm so excited about elizabeth warren. i want to go back to the gop on this, though. it's sort of stunning to me that they saw this demographic problem in 2008. they chose to run the other way of the electorate. like as hard as they could in the other direction. i don't think it's just a matter of these rape gaffes. i don't think it's just rhetorical. that's what's coming out in republican party now, we'll dial back these dudes. >> it's actually their policy. they put on their platform, a

constitutional amendment that would ban all abortions. a personhood amendment. >> and ivf and certain forms of birth control. it is so extensive that the state of mississippi -- i always feel like mississippi voters turn this down and they are not a pro choice state. >> it's sort of an intractable political problem for them. they really want richard mourdock in the senate and stuff like that. >> it's not just a gaffe issue. that's the thing that people connected with. it wasn't a stumble over words. it was a statement of philosophy that was coming over and over again on various things. you know, on the science committee, people go that's just weird that you think that. you're right. it's not just that. >> i was going to say, it's absolutely true about nebraska we have elected a conservative women who holds many of these positions. you look at the states for women, one, these are conservative states and seats. the fact is, i feel like the gop

for a while now has hitched itself to a retrograde agenda on women's issue and reproductive rights. if they are losing seats in red states because of this, this ought to be a wakeup call for them. i don't know if it will be. i think they are behind the times and starting o come to reality. >> it's interesting. on the one point, if you end up with 50/50, half of governors and half of the congress are women, they will be across the plit colitical spectrum. we lost seat for women in the u.s. congress for the first time in some 30 years. but in in, which was primarily driven by democratic women, we end up with more women in the house and senate than we've had in history. >> the building, the point you made about how much investment goes into training women to be able to run effectively for office. because i think the story that most people don't know is how

people become candidates for office. if you don't have a feeder pool that you're supporting into the process of understanding how it works, how to put a campaign together, how to run it, there's been a lot of work in investment and women's ability to be in the pipeline. i think we've heard, you also have to have open seats to make some of this possible. the one thing to lift out is race. we keep talking about women. are you a woman or are you black? you know what i'm saying? it's much more complex. 56% of white women voted for romney. 96% of black women voted for boim and 72% of latinas voted -- there are distinctions within gender when you add the racial dynamic. one of the things that we have to look atoe owe we can't separate those things and i'm tired of being treated like one or the other. >> this intersection is the complex moment. if we look at young women, women of color, spanish-speaking

women, african-american women, urban women, that's the coalition. it's not just women. it's not just everybody voting on choice, right? it's in fact, an interesting coalition of women that requires us to have a complex understanding of who women are. >> 36% of women are women of color. when we talk about women's representation in congress, we have to be very excited about the increase and recognize it's still mostly white. when we come back, i'm going to talk about a state that has sent an all-woman delegation to congress. we're going to tell you more about it when we come back. ♪ [ male announcer ] the way it moves. the way it cleans. everything about the oral-b power brush is simply revolutionary. oral-b power brushes oscillate, rotate and even pulsate to gently loosen and break up that sticky plaque

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quite the odds. they all said, there is no way. who elected the first woman senator to the state of massachusetts. >> you know what happened?

you proved them wrong. >> choosing me, the people of wisconsin have made history. >> i will be the first asian woman ever to be elected to the united states senate thanks to all of you. >> we do believe in america because we believe in americans. >> with a stubborn determination. we were going to have a voice in the united states senate that made you proud. >> i won't just be your senator. i will be your champion. >> that was just a sampling of the victory speeches that we heard pour women in politics. nowhere more so than in new hampshire. forget binders full of women, new hampshire has a delegation full of them. senators, congresswomen, now even a governor. all women. one of those women joins me now live from new hampshire. congresswoman-elect ann mcclain

custer. thanks for your time and congratulations on your win. >> thank you, melissa. it's so great to be here. i'm honored to be on your show. >> obviously it was a big night for women. i'm interested in your campaign in part because so many of the policies and programs that you've been involved with as a professional, up to this moment have been specific to family, to health, to education, things that we often think of as connected to sort of women's issues. is this also what you expect to continue for you as an agenda item going into congress? >> well, i hope so. but the truth is, melissa, that women and families in new hampshire impacted by all of the issues in congress just to give a shoutout to the men and women working in military service for veterans' day and to their families. there are many, many issues that impact women and it's the diversity of the middle class here that i am going down to represent in washington.

>> i want to talk to you a little bit about pipeline. this is actually the second time that you've run. you know, when we talk -- often we're talking for example to my women students in my classes, i find that, despite the fact that they've been leaders, often no one has said to them, you ought to think about running for office. you're from a family of people who ran for office. were you thinking about this early on in your life? what's your pipeline story? >> my pipeline story is unique. my mother, susan mcclain was a state senator and legislator when i was growing up. she actually ran for this seat in 1980 when many, many women, many, many voters would never vote for a woman candidate. and i was her driver on that campaign and then my son zachary was my driver. but, yes, does take additional incentive for women and often the important part is for people to encourage women to run. i did have people encouraging me

and it was a tremendous boost. it helped me make that decision. >> undoubtedly you'll be part of this class of woman, the largest class of women to enter into the congress and the u.s. senate. isn't entirely new for you. you were in the third class of women at dartmouth. is there something you will take with that experience and into congress as you think about this class of sort of entering women? >> definitely. you know what's interesting. i'm also entering in the most diverse class ever. we will -- the democratic caucus in the united states house of representatives will be majority of women and minorities. so that is a wonderful experience and a tremendous, i take great pride in that as well. yes, my experience at doartmout in the third class of women. i've been in this situation before and i know that women are uniquely situated to bring people together to get things

done. that's what i hope to do in washington. you know, that's the work that i've done as an attorney here, as an advocate and community activist. i think if you've ever raised teenagers or toddlers, you know how to find common ground. the voters sense that. they know that we need common sense solutions in congress and people ha can set aside their differences and come together to solve our challenges. >> you know, it's interesting that you say that. another woman that many of us have been watching, of course, is tammy baldwin, the senator-elect out of wisconsin. there was an interesting moment in which is ws when the senator ron johnson said this. i want to read what he said here. hopefully i can sit down and lay out for her my best understanding of the federal budget because there's simply the facts. as you can see, senator baldwin herself said, look, i got it. i'm fine. you know, i wonder about that --

>> it's that numbers thing for girls. you know. >> math is hard. you know, we do hear that women in congress often are able to do some of that bringing together. how are you going to sort of manage this sort of man-splaning moments that will undoubtedly occur? >> the truth is we all handle budgets every single day in our lives. i've been a partner in a law firm for over 20 years and you know, i dealt with budgets, i've dealt with the state of new hampshire budgets. i don't have that math phobia that some people might think. there's certainly plenty of areas that i can learn more about. i'm very excited about how supportive my colleagues have been already, reaching out to me. we'll work together. it's inevitable that we will. we'll each have our own areas of expertise and rely on each other to solve these challenges. as i say, it's not whether an idea is a republican or democrat

or an independent idea. it's in my view, whether it's in the best interests of the hard working families here in new hampshire and approximate it is, i'll roll my sleeves up and get into the mess. >> i want o bring in a panelists, lizz win stead. you said there was a national force in part in making the campaigns successful. >> one of the most astounding things to come out of had is the walloping that the candidate who were sponsored by rove and others had gotten and 90-some percent of planned parenthood backed won. that's a marvelous statistic of what women care about. to me, it really solidified that women and progressives profou profoundly understand that birth control is an economic issue. and the disconnect there was so great on the right. >> yeah. i mean, congresswoman, did you find that was -- as you talked economy, you were also talking reproductive rights? >> well, it's so subtle, it's in every conversation.

look, here's the reality. my mother had to drop out of college her freshman and had five children and never finished college and yet, she was one of the pioneers and leaders in new hampshire politics. the fact is that i was able to finish college, go to law school, come home, get married and have our two children with my husband brad when the time was right for us. and that -- i am in that generation of people that, by controlling our own reproduction, we control our lives, our families, are more productive because of it. we live more secure lives. they were so out of touch. that's why i say, pink is the new power color in new hampsh e hampshire. this large part from the work down by planned parenthood and just waking people up to the fact that there are people that truly do want to put us right back into the kitchen barefoot and pregnant. most voters don't want that.

>> thank you, congresswoman-elect in new hampshire. there is something in the water there. i'm going to send my daughter to drink a ton of water. definitely do. partly because of the pipeline that you had talked about. you know, when my mother was in the new hampshire legislature, we had more women in the new hampshire legislature than all other states combined. tell her to come on up. we know hard work. if you need something done, ask a busy woman. >> absolutely. thank you so much for joining us today. it's too soon to talk about 2016. but when we come back, i'm going to talk to my panel about the potential superstars. the ones to watch are next. ♪

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we believe the more you know, the better you trade. so we have ongoing webinars and interactive learning, plus, in-branch seminars at over 500 locations, where our dedicated support teams help you know more so your money can do more. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. our teams have the information you want when you need it. it's another reason more investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade. we've been talking about the exceptional strides that some of the women candidates made in this election. but think about all of the new shiny faces we're going to see starting in 2013 from the 33 senate races, the house

contests. we'll see more than 80 new members of congress heading to washington and the governor's races how last tuesday, five new chief executives at the state level. who are the ones to watch? who are the potential superstars? jonathan, who is your one to watch? >> we were talking about newly elected women. the newly elected senator in wisconsin, tammy baldwin. she's the first openly guy member of the united states senate. obviously, that's huge. what's also interest about her, she's going to be one of the most liberal members. >> completely -- she's liberal. she was against the iraq war before it was fashionable. she was against repeal of the glass -- the tipping point, the law that made the -- >> here is the president. i have to interrupt. i'm sorry. president obama a it ending the national observance. going live to the remark. >> thank you for a lifetime of service to our nation and for

being such a tireless advocate on behalf of america's veterans, including your fellow veterans, including vietnam veterans. to rick delaney, vice president biden, admiral winfeld, major generuinin genuinington. >> men and women in uniform. active, guard and reserve. and most of all, to the proud veterans and family members joining us in this sacred place, it is truly a privilege and an honor to be with all of you here today. each year on the 11th day of the 11th month we pause as a nation and as a people to pay tribute to you to thank you, to honor you, the heroes over the generations who have served this

country of ours with distinction. moments ago, i laid a wreath to remember every service member who has ever worn our nation's uniform. this day, first and foremost, belongs to them and their loved ones. to the father and mother, the husband and wife, the brother and sister, the comrade and the friend who, when we leave here today, will continue to walk these quiet hills and kneel before the final resting place of those they cherished the most. on behalf of the american people, i say to you that the memory of your loved ones carries on not just in your hearts but in ours as well. i assure you that their sacrifice will never be forgotten. for it is in that sacrifice that we see the enduring spirit of

america. since even before our founding, we have been blessed with an unbroken chain of patriots who have always come forward to serve. whenever america has come under attack, you've risen to her defense. whenever our freedoms have come under assault, you've responded with with resolve. time and again, at home and abroad, you and your families have sacrificed to protect that powerful promise that all of us hold so dear. life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. today, a proud nation expresses our gratitude, but we do so mindful that no ceremony or parade, no hug or handshake is enough to truly honor that service. for that we must do more. for that, we must commit this

day and every day to serving you as well as you served us. when i spoke here three years ago, i spoke about today's generation of service members. this 9/11 generation who stepped forward after the towers fell and in the years since have stepped into history, writing one of the greatest chapters of military service our country has ever known. you toppled a dictator and battled insurgency in iraq. you pushed back the tol taliban and decimated al qaeda in afghanistan. you delivered justice to osama bin laden. tour after tour, year after year, you and your families have done all that this country has asked. you've done that and more. three years ago i promised your generation that when your tour comes to an end, when you see

our flag, when you touch our soil, you will be welcomed home to an america that will forever fight for you just as hard as you fought for us and so long as i have the honor of serving as your commander in chief, that is the promise that we will never stop working to keep. this is the first veterans' day in a decade in which there are no american troops fighting and dying in iraq. [ applause ] >> 33,000 of our troops have now returned from afghanistan and the transition there is under way. after a decade of war, our heroes are coming home. and over the next few years, more than a million service members will transition back to civilian life. will take off their uniforms and take on a new and lasting role.

they will be veterans. as they come home, it falls to us, their fellow citizens, to be there for them and their families. not just now, but always. not just for the first few years, but for as long as they walk this earth. to this day, we still care for a child of a civil war veteran. to this day, we still care for over 100 spouses and children of the men who fought in the spanish-american war. just last year i came here to pay tribute as frank buckles, the last remaining american veteran of world war i was laid to rest. frank stepped up and served in world war i for two years. the united states of america kept its commitment to serve him for many decades that followed. so long after the battles end, long after our heroes come home,

we stay by their side. that's who we are. and that's who we'll be for today's returning service members and their families. because no one who fights for this country overseas should ever have to fight for a job or a roof over their head or the care that they have earned when they come home. [ applause ] we know the most urgent task. many of you faced is finding a new way to serve. we've made it a priority to find jobs worthy of your incredible skills and talents. that's why, thanks to the hard work of michelle and joe biden, some of our most patriotic businesses have hired or trained 125,000 veterans and military spouses. it's why we're transforming for the first time in decades how

the military transitions service members from the battlefield to the workplace. and because you deserve to share in the opportunities that you defend, we are making sure that the post 9/11 g.i. bill stays strong so you can earn a college education and pursue your dreams. [ applause ] if you find yourself struggling with the wounds of war, such as post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic prbrain injury, wel be there for you as well with the care and treatment needed. no veteran should have to wait months or years for the benefits you have earned. we will continue to attack the claims backlog. we won't let up. [ applause ] we will not let up. and as we marked the 50th anniversary of the vietnam war, we have secured new disability

benefits for vietnam era veterans exposed to agent orange. you needed it. you fought for it and we got it done. [ applause ] that's what we do in america. we take care of our own. we take care of our veterans. we take care of your families. not just by saluting you on one day, once a year, but by fighting for you and your families every day of every year. that's our obligation. a sacred obligation to all of you. it's an obligation that we gladly accept for americans like petty officer taylor morris. six months ago taylor was serving our nation in afghanistan and as a member of an explosive ordinance disposal team, his job was one of the most dangerous there is. to lead the way through

territory littered with hidden explosives, to clear the way for his brothers in arms. on may 3rd, while out on patrol, taylor stepped on an ied. the blast threw him into the air. when he hit the ground, taylor realized that both his legs were gone. and his left arm. and his right hand. but as taylor lay there fully conscious, bleeding to death, he cautioned the medics to wait before rushing his way. he feared another ied was nearby. taylor's concern wasn't for his own life. it was for theirs. eventually, they cleared the area. they tended to taylor's wounds. they carried him off the battlefield and days later, taylor was carried into walter reid where he became only the fifth american treated there to

survive the amputation of all four limbs. taylor's recovery has been long and it has been arduous. and it's captivated the nation. a few months after the attack, with the help of prosthetics, the love and support of his family and above all, his girlfriend, danielle who never left his side, taylor wasn't just walking again. in a video that went viral, the world watched he and danielle dance again. i've often said the most humbling part of my job is serving as commander in chief and one of the reasons is that every day i get to meet heroes. i met taylor at walter reed. and then in july at the white house i presented him with a purple heart and right now hanging on a wall in the west wing is a photo of that day. a photo of taylor's smiling wide

and standing tall. i could should point out that taylor couldn't make it here today because he and danielle are out kayaking. [ laughter ] [ applause ] in taylor, we see the best of america. a spirit that says when we get knocked down, we rise again. when times are tough, we come together. when one of us falters, we lift them up. in this country, we take care of our own, especially our veterans who have served us so bravely and sacrificed so selflessly in our name. we carry on knowing that our best days always lie ahead. on this day, we thank all of our

veterans from all of our wars, not just for your service to this country but for reminding us why america is and always will be the greatest nation on earth. god bless you. got bless our veterans. god bless our men and women in uniform and god bless these united states of america. thank you very much. [ applause ] and that was president obama at the annual veterans' day observance at arlington national cemetery in washington, d.c. we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] this is anna, her long day teaching the perfect swing begins with back pain and a choice. take advil, and maybe have to take up to four in a day. or take aleve,

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. welcome back. i want to return to my panel and

ten our conversation about the ones to watch among the newly elected politicians before we took the president. jonathan was telling us about tammy baldwin and the idea of her as a progressive senator. who is your one to watch, liz? >> well, i chose chris murphy, who is also incredibly progressive, and also wins on a whole bunch of friends. he beat out the linda mcmahon, he also solidified a progressive seat from joe lieberman. so if he would have been a woman, he would have been on a pedestal. >> who about you? >> i love the governor elect of new hampshire. and i like her because she's really progressive and put through great laws in new hampshire when she was in the state senate there. but she will perhaps be the

nation's most powerful advocate for disability rights. her son is a severely disabled and she's worked really hard to get access there. the became she frames it in particular is great. she says this is not a matter of charity, not a matter of whether we have money left over in the budget. this is a matter of justice. and it will be interesting to see what she does there. >> and we talked about women candidates earlier. we always elect vice presidents, senators an not very many of them and governors. so if you're being looking for sort of what's the pipeline of potential women, i'm not suggesting she's running for president, but -- right? >> i hated this question and i was a little bit hating on you for asking it because i thought i got 15 people when i got to say one. but i had to take elizabeth warn. she is brilliant. she is unapologetic about her

positions. she are grounded in deep values around fairness to families and consumer protection and transparency and accountability. and she was in a sense the unlikely candidate. and this was not someone who set out to have a career in politics. this is someone who after the financial crisis found a path to leadership that made sense for families. and i love that woman. >> and of course nerd land always likes professors make good. honestly, i'm watching tim kaine out of virginia. for tons of reasons. but mostly because as far as i can tell, he might be the last white male southerner in the democratic party and so i feel like we have to be nice to him just to see whether or not there can be anymore. and the other question for him in the senate, part of what he ran on was a relatively moderate stance. and he said he wouldn't support the end of the tax cuts under

bush, he wouldn't support them at 250. he said only at 500. so he might become the linchpin for sort of what that grand bargain looks like. obviously it will happen before he actually -- hopefully it will happen before he actually shows up, but that notion that 500 is the kind of moderate place. and we also asked the staff to do some picks. one of my producers picked mike pence as one to watch. he's our governor elect in indiana, the republican. he's part of the shrinkage of the obama electoral map, right? so a big re-election win, but he doesn't take indiana, he doesn't take north carolina, so this republican out there in the midwest. and then another producer picked anxio angus king, the independent from maine. >> and one thing about king, the

filibuster is one of his causes. and when we think about what went wrong in the first four years of the obama administration and really for much longer than that, turning the senate where to a body where you need 60 votes to pass, king wants to get rid of the filibuster. and with the republicans still controlling the house, there might be some willingness to give up the philly business ter. that very moment when both parties could say maybe it's time. wishful thinking. p. >> i love this might be a magical moment in which we get rid of the filibuster. you never know. that is our show for today. thank you to richard and liz for sticking around and you at home for watching. we'll see you next saturday at 10:00 a.m.

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